sway in the back /belly. . stance. muzzle

 

What specifically about the muzzle and stance. There are a lot of young and new hunters on AT who could benefit from the knowledge of experienced hunters on this subject.

Are their differences one can see in the 2 deer pictured?

 

Gerth (how fat is he with age comes slowing down means putting on weight as they dont come out as often)
Stance (does he stand like he is king of the hill or second or third inline or if he is even in a line yet)
Color of fur on face and around eyes (if you are watching through binos or camera, check out the color of the fur around his eyes and on his head. Just like people get grey hair so do deer. The older bucks I have seen have alot of grey around the eyes and and in general on thier head fur)

This is what I have been instructed to look for not saying its fact.

 

Does the shape of the muzzle change any with age? How old would they have to be till they start to get the grey around the eyes and face. I have seen the old grey ones that were pretty easy to tell were old, any real noticiable difference between the 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5 year olds besides bulk?

What age would everyone put the 2 pictured at?

 

1.5 yr old bucks appear to have a small face, long nose, 2.5 yr olds will have longer nose but face is filling in , when a buck gets to 4.5 their face starts to look blocky and their nose and ears appear small/short

 

I would say they are in the 3.5 - 4.5 age range.

Ive been told 5 yrs old grey starts to settle in

 

What I look for is the following:

1) width of neck where it meets the body, the wider the older
2) ears, the smaller they look the older the deer, deers ears basically do not grow after their first year, like a bear the smaller the ears the older the deer
3) sway in back and gut, like a man a deer will get a "beer belly" as they get older
4) front shoulders same size as the rear hams, mature bucks, 3.5 and older will look equal front and back, younger look like jacked up cars, rear end bigger then front

the only real way is to pull teeth and have them centurium aged , its a process much like aging a tree. However generally you can get close by aging their teeth wear.

 

The buck in the picture is 3.5 in my opinion